Accessory Makers Prepare Cases for Next-Gen iPhone

The folks at HardMac have received an image purporting to reveal protective skins for the next-generation iPhone. The shape of the skin and the round holes for buttons come in line with the characteristics of the prototype iPhone leaked by Gizmodo last month.

Third-party cases have provided clues about unreleased Apple hardware a number of times in the past — sometimes they were legitimate, and sometimes they weren’t. Former Wired.com news editor Leander Kahney explained that the third-party accessory industry has historically been a leaky boat because the people who create the plastics that come with the iPhone are likely connected to the companies making third-party protective cases. (They are all in the plastics industry, after all.)